Friday, July 16, 2010

Made it Finally!

So road tripping is NOT my idea of a good time. This was planned for my husband who always is eager to drive and I want to fly. Well work got in the way and he flies home and I am left driving from Tahoe to Boulder. Day 1 was doable....8+ hours but enough podcasts, pumpkin seeds and varied terrain to keep me motivated.

But the 2nd day....other than waking up and taking an amazing run in Park City- was just not a fun day. But the fun first....I was up early thanks to the hotel's complimentary 5am wake up call that I did not order. Really tried to go back to sleep as was finally a day I did not have to get up early but no luck. So I eventually got up and went for a run through wonderful trails that slowly worked their way up toward the site for the Olympic Ski Jumping. Energized and ready to roll, I hit Starbucks and was on the road by 9.

On today's tour was the rest of Utah, a long time in Wyoming and then finally Colorado. Wyoming, at least the portion I was driving through was not all that sensational. No Tetons or beautiful scenery, but a lot of flat plains and not a lot to enjoy. Grumpy is the word of the day.

But by 6pm I rolled into Boulder and it has been awesome since arrival....

Ran up Boulder Canyon Wed AM- ugh! 10 miles, altitude and going up. Slow indeed but was a great run. Checked out noon masters just to see who was there...sure enough Sam McGlone and Matt Reid were swimming. Fun to see some of the rock stars of the sport. The pool quite frankly sucked- 25 meters, 6 lanes and wavy as all get out. UCSD seriously is an awesome pool and should be appreciated. The workout was fine until we started the main set and coach Jane moved me over a lane and let's just say I sprinted for close to 2000 meters and was just hanging on. Kicked me rear big time- but frankly, awesome!

Thursday, my bro-in-law took me on a 4 hour ride. Plan was recovery ride, nothing major. Okay, so he is a Cat 4 Roadie and it was not exactly a recovery ride. He showed me mercy and backed off when I really wimped out. The roads, riding out here is awesome. Few cars and all over the county. Now I see why this is the Tri-Meca. Maybe, maybe some day we too will leave here.

Had a lot of work to do and then dealt with my bike- Ruby is having trouble...broken cable and spoke on the Death Ride. Replaced the wheel- it's all good. Needed to replace the chain, with the new cassette and old chain it just was not riding well. Got that done- bribed the tech with a 6 pack of beer to do it ASAP. All good and then I notice a loose cage. I have been meaning to replace the cages for a while and found some sweet Specialized cages to match the new pimped out bike. As I go got take off the top tube cage I realize the screw is stripped and not coming out. I work and work with no luck. Back to the bike shop and they figure out how to get it out and then realize there is a small fracture in the frame where the screw was. No hope of replacing the cage and they told me Specialized will most likely replace the frame because that is not supposed to happen. That could be sweet!!! Okay to ride but will have to carry a bottle in my jersey for the Steamboat Century tomorrow.

Up early today for BAM (Boulder Aquatic Masters) found the 50 meter pool- again nothing like UCSD. Shallow, dirty and warm. Good work out and hit the Boulder Canyon again and now we are packing up for Steamboat.

Nytro Womens Racing Team

Welcome to my Ironman blog

This is an ongoing account of my life as I train for Ironman, parent 2 kids now in college, perform my wifely duties, run a coaching and hospitality business and live life in general. At times it is random, insane and hopefully funny as well.